History UsefulNotes / PrehistoricLifeMammals

* The earliest mammals were very different compared to the most common modern forms (placentals and marsupials), with many traits reminescent of the cynodont [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles therapsids]]. Today, the only mammals that preserve these ancestral traits are the Monotremes (echidna & platypus) with their horny bills with electric sensors, sprawling gait, and their peculiar skeletrical anatomy including the so-called "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epipubic_bone epipubic bones]]" (in the hips). The most ancient true mammals generally had also sprawling gaits, some of which with odd configurations such as more erect forelimbs. Many were venomous, [[https://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/app51-001.html with venom spurs similar to those of modern platypi being the norm]]. Nearly all were constrained by the epipubic bones or epipubics: great at stiffening your torso, [[GoneHorriblyRight so much so]] that you can't undergo long term pregnancy and are forced to give birth to undeveloped young: just like in modern marsupials, which also have reduced epipubics named "marsupial bones" because are useful in females to sustain the ventral pouch. Alternatively, the mammals with epipubics laid eggs as in modern monotremes. We placentals are the only mammals without epipubic bones, arguably to give room to the enlarged womb during pregnancy and birth in females.

[[/folder]]

* [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Therian]] mammals, which include today's marsupials and placentals, instead took over, even before dinosaurs became extinct. However, South America still harbored a group called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meridiolestida meridiolestians]], which continued to be a prominent group of mammals until the mass extinction that also killed off the dinosaurs. Even after, they had two last hurrahs: the giant herbivorous ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peligrotherium Peligrotherium]]'' and the much younger mole-like ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necrolestes Necrolestes]]''. The exception to these were multituberculates, which did initially diversify alongside therian mammals and did in fact dominate the land mammal faunas even after dinosaurs disappeared, culminating in the panda-sized ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taeniolabis Taeniolabis]]''. However, [[ForWantOfANail they failed to recover their number in Asia]], and in the resulting vacuum a lineage of placentals, the rodents, made their debut. Soon, they spread out of Asia and outcompeted multituberculates, which quickly declined until they eventually became extinct.

* [[StockPhrase Man-Is-Descended-From-Apes]]. [[RunningGag Man-Is-Descended-From-Apes]]. ''[[OverlyLongGag Man-Is-Descended-From-Apes]]''. '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis NO!!!]]''' Man '''didn't descend''' from other modern apes (that is, chimps, gorillas, orangutans, gibbons): we humans '''and''' chimps/gorillas/orangutans/gibbons all descend from a common ancestor, often called "ape" in popular media but no more closely related to chimps as it was to ourselves. Primate evolution is of particular interest for obvious reasons, but it'd be a too long argumentation here, and would go much beyond the aim of these notes: talking about the most interesting extinct critters. Indeed, most ancient non-hominid primates ''weren't'' particularly interesting compared to their modern descendants: their look was quite monotonous, some resembled more a lemur, other a tarsier, other a monkey, and other modern apes. Most of them were small as well, although oversized baboons and overgrown lemurs (see just below) are known in fossil record. We can mention one representative for each lineage, from the furthest to the nearest to humans. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adapis Adapis]]'' was an ancient relative of lemurs; ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omomyidae Omomys]]'' was a sort of proto-tarsier; ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegyptopithecus Aegyptopithecus]]'' ("Egyptian monkey") was one of the first true monkeys. ''Series/WalkingWithBeasts'' chose to portray other two animals, the Adapis relative ''Godinotia'' (wrongly shown [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys with a monkey head]]) and the early true monkey ''Apidium'' in the two first episodes respectively. For extinct apes, see further.

* The late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic saw the rise of the primates and their relatives from an ancestor fairly close to rodents. Living at the very start of the Cenozoic, ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Plesiadapis]]'' ("almost Adapis", see below) is often mentioned in books as the "first primate", but it was probably only a close relative, like the Dermopterans above. Bats too (expecially the megabats) used to be considered related with primates until recently, but again, [[ScienceMarchesOn modern genetic research]] has shown they were actually linked with carnivorans and true ungulates. Togheter, odd-toed ungulates, carnivores and bats were once called "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasoferae Pegasoferans]]", literally "[[Myth/GreekMythology Pegasus]] Beasts". Pegasus, the winged horse, refers to the winged bats (Chiropterans) & horses (Perissodactyls) considered together: the Ferans are the Carnivorans and Pangolins together. Today is accepted a new clade called the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrotifera Scrotiferans]]" (scrotum-bearers), including not only the "pegasoferans" but also the Artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates and cetaceans). All them shared, at least originally, the scrotum in males (lost secondarily in some subgroups, like seals, whales, and pangolins), that most other mammal lineages lack. Primates and near-primates, that are ''not'' scrotiferans, are possibly the only exception among the placentals, having a scrotum despite not being members of the group (among mammals in general also the male kangaroos have a scrotum). This means that male rodents, sloths, true shrews, rabbits, elephants, platypuses, etc. have no scrotum. Returning to ''Plesiadapis'', it was a sort of middle way between a squirrel and a monkey, with a lemur-body but gnawing teeth like a rodent. Living in trees, it resembled a lot some ancient mammals which lived in the Mesozoic, particularly ''Purgatorius'' (see [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles The Origin Of Mammals]]). Today, there’s still an animal which strongly resembles ''Plesiadapis'' and ''Purgatorius'', though devoid of gnawing teeth unlike the former: the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandentia banxring]]. Improperly called “tree shrew”, the latter was once classified as an “insectivore” (see above). Interesting that one modern true primate, the lemur Aye-Aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis''), has independently developed gnawing teeth as well.

* The late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic saw the rise of the primates and their relatives from an ancestor fairly close to rodents. Living at the very start of the Cenozoic, ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Plesiadapis]]'' ("almost Adapis", see below) is often mentioned in books as the "first primate", but it was probably only a close relative, like the Dermopterans above. Bats too (expecially the megabats) used to be considered related with primates until recently, but again, [[ScienceMarchesOn modern genetic research]] has shown they were actually linked with carnivorans and true ungulates. Togheter, odd-toed ungulates, carnivores and bats were once called "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasoferae Pegasoferans]]", literally "[[Myth/GreekMythology Pegasus]] Beasts". Pegasus, the winged horse, refers to the winged bats (Chiropterans) & horses (Perissodactyls) considered together: the Ferans are the Carnivorans and Pangolins together. Today is accepted a new clade called the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrotifera Scrotiferans]]" (scrotum-bearers), including not only the "pegasoferans" but also the Artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates and cetaceans). All them shared, at least originally, the scrotum in males (lost secondarily in some subgroups, like seals, whales, and pangolins), that most other mammal lineages lacks. We primates, that are ''not'' scrotiferans, are possibly the only exception among the placentals, having a scrotum despite not being members of the group (among mammals in general also the male kangaroos have a scrotum). Returning to ''Plesiadapis'', it was a sort of middle way between a squirrel and a monkey, with a lemur-body but gnawing teeth like a rodent. Living in trees, it resembled a lot some ancient mammals which lived in the Mesozoic, particularly ''Purgatorius'' (see [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles The Origin Of Mammals]]). Today, there’s still an animal which strongly resembles ''Plesiadapis'' and ''Purgatorius'', though devoid of gnawing teeth unlike the former: the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandentia banxring]]. Improperly called “tree shrew”, the latter was once classified as an “insectivore” (see above). Interesting that one modern true primate, the lemur Aye-Aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis''), has independently developed gnawing teeth as well.

* The earliest mammals were very different compared to the most common modern forms (placentals and marsupials), with many traits reminescent of the cynodont [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles therapsids]]. Today, the only mammals that preserve these ancestral traits are the Monotremes (echidna & platypus) with their horny bills with electric sensors, sprawling gait, and their peculiar skeletrical anatomy including the so-called "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epipubic_bone epipubic bones]]" (in the hyps). The most ancient true mammals generally had also sprawling gaits, some of which with odd configurations such as more erect forelimbs. Many were venomous, [[https://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/app51-001.html with venom spurs similar to those of modern platypi being the norm]]. Nearly all were constrained by the epipubic bones or epipubics: great at stiffening your torso, [[GoneHorriblyRight so much so]] that you can't undergo long term pregnancy and are forced to give birth to undeveloped young: just like in modern marsupials, which also have reduced epipubics named "marsupial bones" because are useful in females to sustain the ventral pouch. Alternatively, the mammals with epipubics laid eggs as in modern monotremes. We placentals are the only mammals without epipubic bones, arguably to give room to the enlarged womb during pregnancy and birth in females.

* Last, but not least, our species (originally called ''Homo sapiens sapiens'' because the Neanderthal and others were believed [[ScienceMarchesOn its subspecies]]: ex. ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis''). began evolving from ''Homo heidelbergensis'' at around 300,000 years ago or so, developing what scientists refer to as "Archaic Homo Sapiens", that is, hominins well in the line of modern humans, but don't quite resemble modern humans just yet, with notable examples being the Florisband and Gawis craniums, which show notable transitional elements into ''Homo sapiens'' ("sapiens" = "one who knows, wise, savant"). Cro-Magnons lived alongside the Neanderthals in Pleistocenic Europe, had also feelings and morality, but they made steps further: articulated language, artistic sense (paintings in caves and little stony statues), and complex weapons and tools. Their descendants invented farming, agriculture, the first villages and towns, and finally writing, starting the recorded history about 4,000 years ago. ''Homo sapiens'' is the only species of ''Homo'' who managed to reach the Americas and Oceania -- both before the recorded history. The size of the brain of both Neanderthals and archaic ''Homo sapiens'' was equal to ours, and in some Neanderthals was even bigger: up to 1,800 cc! Modern humans have a brain size that spans between 1,000 and 1,400 cc.

* Humans these days are a very varied species, with different peoples having different skin color, eye color, height or weight, oddily in contrast with our extreme genetic uniformity compared with other mammal species. With such external variety, it's not that far a stretch to think that our ancestors had similar varieties. A possible evidence was shown by the very recent (2005) findings of ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganthropus Meganthropus]]'' (lit. "big man") in the island of Java, Indonesia. Initially believed a sub-type of ''Homo erectus'', then an australopithecine, it has since 2019 been considered a non-hominin ape of uncertain classification, maybe related with the orangutans. Known only from skull fossils like the famous ''Gigantopithecus'', it earns well its nickname of the "Mystery Ape". ''Meganthropus'' was as tall as 7 (2.10 m) to 9 feet (2.70), making it a giant among great apes, nearly as big as the gigantopithecus itself! It probably resulted from natural selection by competing with the equally Asian ''Gigantopithecus''. [[note]]During the glaciations most of the Indonesian archipelago and the mainland Asia were united by a bridge of dryland, just like the British Isles were united with the mainland Europe at the same epoch: the sea that divides both Indonesia and Britain/Ireland from the huge eurasian landmass is shallow.[[/note]] Another example, this time really human, of gigantism among hominids would be ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_heidelbergensis Homo heidelbergensis]]'' ("man from Heidelberg", a city of Germany), a descendant from ''Homo erectus'' and very likely the common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals. This species in particular showed variations in height, ranging from an average human heights of 6 feet (1.80 m), to being as tall as 8 feet (2.40 m).

'''Pygmy Human:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensis Homo floresiensis]]''

* Last, but not least, our species began evolving from ''Homo heidelbergensis'' at around 300,000 years ago or so, developing what scientists refer to as "Archaic Homo Sapiens", that is, hominins well in the line of modern humans, but don't quite resemble modern humans just yet, with notable examples being the Florisband and Gawis craniums, which show notable transitional elements into ''Homo sapiens''. Cro-Magnons lived alongside the Neanderthals in Pleistocenic Europe, had also feelings and morality, but they made steps further: articulated language, artistic sense (paintings in caves and little stony statues), and complex weapons and tools. Their descendants invented farming, agriculture, the first villages and towns, and finally writing, starting the recorded history about 4,000 years ago. ''Homo sapiens'' is the only species of ''Homo'' who managed to reach the Americas and Oceania -- both before the recorded history. The size of the brain of both Neanderthals and archaic ''Homo sapiens'' was equal to ours, and in some Neanderthals was even bigger: up to 1,800 cc! Modern humans have a brain size that spans between 1,000 and 1,400 cc.

* At the opposite end, another hominin that was also found in the 2000s: ''Homo floresiensis'' (lit. "Man of Flores") or "the Hobbit" as called colloquially. This species was most likely another descendant from ''Homo erectus'', and distinguishes itself for its incredibly small size (around 3.2 feet, merely a meter tall). This species was found mainly on an island known as "Las Flores" (lit. "the flowers" in Spanish) in Indonesia as well, an island not far away from Java but much smaller and actually closer to Australia than to the mainland Asia. Flores is also very close to the even smaller Komodo Island, where the famous "Komodo dragons" live today. ''Homo floresiensis'' is currently believed a result of ''Homo erectus'' that was stranded on the island: how they got there in the first place is still the object of much speculation. It adapted to the fauna of the island, making a case of insular dwarfism (curiously, the opposite happened to the giant monitor lizard, the "Komodo Dragon", which was subject to insular gigantism). The Flores "pygmies" lasted up to the end of the Ice Age itself, nearly 12 thousand years ago. Another species of dwarf insular human, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_luzonensis Homo luzonensis]]'', the "Man of Luzon", was described only in 2019 in Luzon, the biggest island of the northern Philippines.

* At the opposite end, another hominin that was also found in the 2000s: ''Homo floresiensis'' (lit. "Man of Flores") or "the Hobbit" as called colloquially. This species was most likely another descendant from ''Homo erectus'', and distinguishes itself for its incredibly small size (around 3.2 feet, merely a meter tall). This species was found mainly on an island known as "Las Flores" (lit. "the flowers" in Spanish) in Indonesia as well, an island not far away from Java but much smaller and actually closer to Australia than to the mainland Asia. Flores is also very close to the even smaller Komodo Island, where the famous "Komodo dragons" live today. ''Homo floresiensis'' is currently believed a result of ''Homo erectus'' that was stranded on the island: how they got there in the first place is still the object of much speculation. It adapted to the fauna of the island, making a case of insular dwarfism (curiously, the opposite happened to the giant monitor lizard, the "Komodo Dragon", which was subject to insular gigantism). The Flores "pygmies" lasted up to the end of the Ice Age itself, nearly 12 thousand years ago.

* Last, but not least, our species began evolving from ''Homo heidelbergensis'' at around 300,000 years ago or so, developing what scientists refer to as "Archaic Homo Sapiens", that is, hominins well in the line of modern humans, but don't quite resemble modern humans just yet, with notable examples being the Florisband and Gawis craniums, which show notable transitional elements into ''Homo sapiens''. Cro-Magnons lived alongside the Neanderthals in Pleistocenic Europe, had also feelings and morality, but they made steps further: articulated language, artistic sense (paintings in caves and little stony statues), and complex weapons and tools. Their descendants invented farming, agriculture, the first towns, and finally scripture, starting the recorded History 4,000 years ago. ''Homo sapiens'' is the only species of ''Homo'' who managed to reach the Americas and Oceania -- both before the recorded history. The size of the brain of both Neanderthals and archaic ''Homo sapiens'' was equal to ours, and in some Neanderthals was even bigger: up to 1,800 cc! Modern humans have a brain size that spans between 1,000 and 1,400 cc.

* Around 500,000 years ago, the descendants of ''Homo erectus'' began diversifying all across the Old World. From the branch of ''Homo heidelbergensis'', three species appear to have splintered cross the three continents. One is the famous Neanderthal (''Homo neanderthalensis''), which reigned through most of Europe, Northern Africa and Northwestern Asia for almost 200,000 years before the rise of the first modern humans (the European ones are traditionally named Cro-Magnons). Neanderthals were robustly-built, and had many adaptations to the frigid Ice-Ages: for example, they were more meat-eating than the other humans (like polar bears are today in respect to the other bears). Like the Cro-Magnons, Neanderthals have often been depicted as rivals of the famous [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Cave Bears]]. Neanderthals were surely capable of feelings and morality: there have been found many sites that show they buried and mourned their dead companions. Another species, being identified at the start of TheNewTens as distinct from the Neanderthals, is the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denisovan Denisova hominin]], of which only a tooth had been found. But since ScienceMarchesOn, scientist were able to determine it was a new species thanks to the ability to extract strands of DNA from the fossilized tooth and compare it with both Neanderthals and modern human's genome. This newly-identified species populated mainly north-eastern Europe and the Middle East, and some speculate it may have originated on the Arabian peninsula.

'''The European Savants:''' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_European_modern_humans Cro-Magnons]]

* Last, but not least, our species began evolving from ''Homo heidelbergensis'' at around 300,000 years ago or so, developing what scientists refer to as "Archaic Homo Sapiens", that is, hominins well in the line of modern humans, but don't quite resemble modern humans just yet, with notable examples being the Florisband and Gawis craniums, which show notable transitional elements into ''Homo sapiens''. Cro-Magnons lived alongside the Neanderthals in Pleistocenic Europe, had also feelings and morality, but they made steps further: articulated language, artistic sense (paintings in caves and little stony statues), and complex weapons and tools. Their descendants invented farming, agriculture, the first towns, and finally scripture, starting the recorded History 4,000 years ago. ''Homo sapiens'' is the only species of ''Homo'' who managed to reach the Americas and the Oceania -- both before the recorded history. The size of the brain of both Neanderthals and archaic ''Homo sapiens'' was equal to ours, and in some Neanderthals were even bigger: up to 1,800 cc! Modern humans have a brain size that spans between 1,000 and 1,400 cc.

* Humans these days are a very varied species, with different peoples having different skin color, eye color, height or weight, oddily in contrast with our extreme genetic uniformity compared with other mammal species. With such external variety, it's not that far a stretch to think that our ancestors had similar varieties. A possible evidence was shown by the very recent (2005) findings of ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganthropus Meganthropus]]'' (lit. "big man") in the island of Java, Indonesia. Initially believed a sub-type of ''Homo erectus'', it is now considered a non-hominin ape of uncertain classification. Known only from cranial fossils like the famous ''Gigantopithecus'', ''Meganthropus'' was as tall as 7 (2.10 m) to 9 feet (2.70), making it a giant among great apes, nearly as big as the gigantopithecus itself! It probably resulted from natural selection by competing with the equally Asian ''Gigantopithecus''. [[note]]During the glaciations most of the Indonesian archipelago and the mainland Asia were united by a bridge of dryland, just like the British Isles were united with the mainland Europe at the same epoch: the sea that divides both Indonesia and Britain/Ireland from the huge eurasian landmass is shallow.[[/note]] Another example, this time really human, of gigantism among hominids would be ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_heidelbergensis Homo heidelbergensis]]'' ("man from Heidelberg", a city of Germany), a descendant from ''Homo erectus'' and very likely the common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals. This species in particular showed variations in height, ranging from an average human heights of 6 feet (1.80 m), to being as tall as 8 feet (2.40 m).

'''The End of the Line:''' the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal Neanderthals]] and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_European_modern_humans Cro-Magnons]]

* Around 500,000 years ago, the descendants of ''Homo erectus'' began diversifying all across the Old World. From the branch of ''Homo heidelbergensis'', three species appear to have splintered cross the three continents. One is the famous Neanderthal (''Homo neanderthalensis''), which reigned through most of Europe, Northern Africa and Northwestern Asia for almost 200,000 years before the rise of the first modern humans (the European ones are traditionally named Cro-Magnons). Neanderthals were robustly-built, and had many adaptations to the frigid Ice-Ages: for example, they were more meat-eating than the other humans (like polar bears are today in respect to the other bears). They have often been depicted as rivals of the famous [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Cave Bears]]. Neanderthals were surely capable of feelings and morality: there have been found many sites that show they buried and kept in honor their dead brothers. Another species, being identified at the start of TheNewTens as distinct from the Neanderthals, is the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denisovan Denisova hominin]], of which only a tooth had been found. But since ScienceMarchesOn, scientist were able to determine it was a new species thanks to the ability to extract strands of DNA from the fossilized tooth and compare it with both Neanderthals and modern human's genome. This newly-identified species populated mainly north-eastern Europe and the Middle East, and some speculate it may have originated on the Arabian peninsula. Last, but not least, our species began evolving from ''Homo heidelbergensis'' at around 300,000 years ago or so, developing what scientists refer to as "Archaic Homo Sapiens", that is, hominins well in the line of modern humans, but don't quite resemble modern humans just yet, with notable examples being the Florisband and Gawis craniums, which show notable transitional elements into ''Homo sapiens''. ''Homo sapiens'' is the only species of ''Homo'' who managed to reach the Americas and the Oceania -- both before the recorded history. The size of the brain of both Neanderthals and archaic ''Homo sapiens'' was equal to ours, and in some Neanderthals were even bigger: up to 1,800 cc! Modern humans have a brain size that spans between 1,000 and 1,400 cc.

'''Between Giants and Dwarfs'''

* Humans these days are a very varied species, with different peoples having different skin color, eye color, height or weight, oddily in contrast with our extreme genetic uniformity compared with other mammal species. With such external variety, it's not that far a stretch to think that our ancestors had similar varieties. A possible evidence was shown by the very recent (2005) findings of ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganthropus Meganthropus]]'' (lit. "big man") in the island of Java, Indonesia. Initially believed a sub-type of ''Homo erectus'', it is now considered a non-hominin ape of uncertain classification. Known only from cranial fossils like the famous ''Gigantopithecus'', ''Meganthropus'' was as tall as 7 (2.10 m) to 9 feet (2.70), making it a giant amongst great apes, nearly as big as the gigantopithecus itself! It probably resulted from natural selection by competing with the equally Asian ''Gigantopithecus''. [[note]]During the glaciations most of the Indonesian archipelago and the mainland Asia were united by dryland, just like the two main British Isles were united with the mainland Europe at the same epoch: the sea that divides both Indonesia and Britain/Ireland from the huge eurasian landmass is shallow.[[/note]] Another example, this time really human, of gigantism among hominids would be ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_heidelbergensis Homo heidelbergensis]]'' ("man from Heidelberg", a city of Germany), a descendant from ''Homo erectus'' and very likely the common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals. This species in particular showed variations in height, ranging from an average human heights of 6 feet (1.80 m), to being as tall as 8 feet (2.40 m)!. At the opposite end, another guy also found in the 2000s: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensis Homo floresiensis]]'' (lit. "Man of Flores") or "the Hobbit" as called colloquially. This species was most likely another descendant from ''Homo erectus'', and distinguishes itself for its incredibly small size (around 3.2 feet, merely a meter tall). This species was found mainly on an island known as "Las Flores" (lit. The Flowers in Spanish) in Indonesia as well, not far away from Java but much smaller and actually closer to Australia than to the mainland Asia. Flores is also very close to the even smaller Komodo Island, where the famous "Komodo dragons" live today. ''Homo floresiensis'' is currently believed a result of ''Homo erectus'' that was stranded on the island: how they got there in the first place is still the object of much speculation. It adapted to the fauna of the island, making a case of insular dwarfism (curiously, the opposite happened to the giant monitor lizard, the "Komodo Dragon", which was subject to insular gigantism). The "hobbits" lasted up to the end of the Ice Age itself, nearly 12 thousand years ago.

* Around 500,000 years ago, the descendants of ''Homo erectus'' began diversifying all across the Old World. From the branch of ''Homo heidelbergensis'', three species appear to have splintered cross the three continents. One is the famous Neanderthal (''Homo neanderthalensis''), which reigned through most of Europe, Northern Africa and Northwestern Asia for almost 200,000 years before the rise of the first modern humans (the European ones are traditionally named Cro-Magnons). Neanderthals were robustly-built, and had many adaptations to the frigid Ice-Ages: for example, they were more meat-eating than the other humans (like polar bears are today in respect to the other bears). They have often been depicted as rivals of the famous [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Cave Bears]]. Neanderthals were surely capable of feelings and morality: there have been found many sites that show they buried and kept in honor their dead brothers. Another species, being identified at the start of TheNewTens as distinct from the Neanderthals, is the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denisovan Denisova hominin]], of which only a tooth had been found. But since ScienceMarchesOn, scientist were able to determine it was a new species thanks to the ability to extract strands of DNA from the fossilized tooth and compare it with both Neanderthals and modern human's genome. This newly-identified species populated mainly north-eastern Europe and the Middle East, and some speculate it may have originated on the Arabian peninsula. Last, but not least, our species began evolving from ''Homo heidelbergensis'' at around 300,000 years ago or so, developing what scientists refer to as "Archaic Homo Sapiens", that is, hominins well in the line of modern humans, but don't quite resemble modern humans just yet, with notable examples being the Florisband and Gawis craniums, which show notable transitional elements into ''Homo sapiens''. ''Homo sapiens'' is the only species of ''Homo'' who managed to reach the Americas and the Oceania, before recorded history. The size of the brain of both Neanderthals and archaic ''Homo sapiens'' was equal to ours, and in some Neanderthals were even bigger: up to 1,800 cc! Modern humans have a brain size that spans between 1,000 and 1,400 cc.

* Around 500,000 years ago, the descendants of ''Homo erectus'' began diversifying all across the Old World. From the branch of ''Homo heidelbergensis'', three species appear to have splintered cross the three continents. One is the famous Neanderthal (''Homo neanderthalensis''), which reigned through most of Europe, Northern Africa and Northwestern Asia for almost 200,000 years before the rise of the first modern humans (traditionally named Cro-Magnons). Neanderthals were robustly-built, and had many adaptations to the frigid Ice-Ages: for example, they were more meat-eating than the other humans (like polar bears are today in respect to the other bears). They have often been depicted as rivals of the famous [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Cave Bears]]. Neanderthals were surely capable of feelings and morality: there have been found many sites that show they buried and kept in honor their dead brothers. Another species, being identified at the start of TheNewTens as distinct, is the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denisovan Denisova hominin]], of which only a tooth had been found. But since ScienceMarchesOn, scientist were able to determine it was a new species thanks to the ability to extract strands of DNA from the fossilized tooth and compare it with both Neanderthals and modern human's genome. This newly-identified species populated mainly north-eastern Europe and the Middle East, and some speculate it may have originated on the Arabian peninsula. Last, but not least, our species began evolving from ''Homo heidelbergensis'' at around 300,000 years ago or so, developing what scientists refer to as "Archaic Homo Sapiens", that is, hominins well in the line of modern humans, but don't quite resemble modern humans just yet, with notable examples being the Florisband and Gawis craniums, which show notable transitional elements into ''Homo sapiens''. The size of the brain of both Neanderthals and archaic ''Homo sapiens'' was equal to ours, and in some Neanderthals were even bigger: up to 1,800 cc! Modern humans have a brain size that spans between 1,000 and 1,400 cc.

'''The End of the Line:''' the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal Neanderthals]] and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_European_ancient_human Cro-Magnons]]

'''The End of the Line:''' the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal Neanderthals]] and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cro_Magnon Cro-Magnons]]

* Around 500,000 years ago, the descendants of ''Homo erectus'' began diversifying all across the Old World. From the branch of ''Homo heidelbergensis'', three species appear to have splintered cross the three continents. One is the famous Neanderthal (''Homo neanderthalensis''), which reigned through most of Europe, Northern Africa and Northwestern Asia for almost 200,000 years before the rise of the first modern humans (traditionally named Cro-Magnons). They were robustly-built, with adaptations to the cold Ice-Ages, and were surely capable of feelings and morality: there have been found sites that show they buried and kept in honor their dead brothers. They have often been depicted as rivals of the famous [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Cave Bears]]. Another species, being identified at the start of TheNewTens as distinct, is the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denisovan Denisova hominin]], of which only a tooth had been found. But since ScienceMarchesOn, scientist were able to determine it was a new species thanks to the ability to extract strands of DNA from the fossilized tooth and compare it with both Neanderthals and modern human's genome. This newly-identified species populated mainly north-eastern Europe and the Middle East, and some speculate it may have originated on the Arabian peninsula. Last, but not least, our species began evolving from ''Homo heidelbergensis'' at around 300,000 years ago or so, developing what scientists refer to as "Archaic Homo Sapiens", that is, hominins well in the line of modern humans, but don't quite resemble modern humans just yet, with notable examples being the Florisband and Gawis craniums, which show notable transitional elements into ''Homo sapiens''. The size of the brain of both Neanderthals and archaic ''Homo sapiens'' was equal to ours, and in some Neanderthals were even bigger: up to 1,800 cc! Modern humans have a brain size that spans between 1,000 and 1,400 cc.

'''The End of the Line:''' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal Neanderthals]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_denisova Denisovans]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaic_Homo_sapiens Archaic]] ''Homo sapiens''

* Around 500,000 years ago, the descendants of ''Homo erectus'' began diversifying all across the Old World. From the branch of ''Homo heidelbergensis'', three species appear to have splintered cross the three continents. The most emblematic of these human species is the famous Neanderthal (''Homo neanderthalensis''), which reigned through most of Europe, Northern Africa and Northwestern Asia for almost 200,000 years before the rise of the first modern humans (traditionally named Cro-Magnons). Another case, being identified at the start of TheNewTens as distinct, is the Denisova hominin, of which only a tooth had been found. But since ScienceMarchesOn, scientist were able to determine it was a new species thanks to the ability to extract strands of DNA from the fossilized tooth and compare it with both Neanderthals and modern human's genome. This newly-identified species populated mainly north-eastern Europe and the Middle East, and some speculate it may have originated on the Arabian peninsula. Last, but not least, our species began evolving from ''Homo heidelbergensis'' at around 300,000 years ago or so, developing what scientists refer to as "Archaic Homo Sapiens", that is, hominins well in the line of modern humans, but don't quite resemble modern humans just yet, with notable examples being the Florisband and Gawis craniums, which show notable transitional elements into ''Homo sapiens''.

* Humans these days are a very varied species, with different peoples having different skin color, eye color, height or weight, oddily in contrast with our extreme genetic uniformity compared with other mammal species. With such external variety, it's not that far a stretch to think that our ancestors had similar varieties. A possible evidence was shown by the very recent (2005) findings of ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganthropus Meganthropus]]'' (lit. "big man") in the island of Java, Indonesia. Initially believed a sub-type of ''Homo erectus'', it is now considered a non-hominin ape, like ''Gigantopithecus''. Known from scant fossils, it was as tall as 7 (2.10 m) to 9 feet (2.70), making it a giant amongst great apes, nearly as big as the gigantopithecus itself! It probably resulted from natural selection by competing with the equally Asian ''Gigantopithecus'' (during the glaciations most of the Indonesian archipelago and the mainland Asia were united by dryland, just like the two main British Isles were united with the mainland Europe at the same epoch: the sea that divides both Indonesia and Britain/Ireland and the huge eurasian landmass is shallow). Another example, this time really human, of gigantism among hominids would be ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_heidelbergensis Homo heidelbergensis]]'' ("man from Heidelberg", a city of Germany), a descendant from ''Homo erectus'' and very likely the common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals. This species in particular showed variations in height, ranging from an average human heights of 6 feet (1.80 m), to being as tall as 8 feet (2.40 m)!. At the opposite end, another guy also found in the 2000s: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensis Homo floresiensis]]'' (lit. "Man of Flores") or "the Hobbit" as called colloquially. This species was most likely another descendant from ''Homo erectus'', and distinguishes itself for its incredibly small size (around 3.2 feet, merely a meter tall). This species was found mainly on an island known as "Las Flores" (lit. The Flowers in Spanish) in Indonesia as well, not far away from Java but much smaller and actually closer to Australia than to the mainland Asia. Flores is also very close to the even smaller Komodo Island, where the famous "Komodo dragons" live today. ''Homo floresiensis'' is currently believed a result of ''Homo erectus'' that was stranded on the island: how they got there in the first place is still the object of much speculation. It adapted to the fauna of the island, making a case of insular dwarfism (curiously, the opposite happened to the giant monitor lizard, the "Komodo Dragon", which was subject to insular gigantism). The "hobbits" lasted up to the end of the Ice Age itself, nearly 12 thousand years ago.

* It's worth of note that ScienceMarchesOn has been a big affair about ''Homo erectus''. Its first fossil, the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_Man Java Man]]", found in Indonesia in 1893, in the isle of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Java]] indeed, was originally called ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropopithecus Anthropopithecus erectus]]'' ("upright man-ape") and immediately after renamed ''Pithecanthropus erectus'' (literally meaning "upright ape-man"). Another found later near Beijing, China (in the Zhokouthien site to be precise) was labeled ''Sinanthropus pekinensis'' ("[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Beijing]]'s chinese man") and nicknamed the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_Man Peking Man]]" (Peking is the old version of Beijing, the capital of China). Both names are very common in old textbooks, but now are universally regarded as specimens of ''Homo erectus''. Another alternative name (invented in the seventies, the same decade of the description of the australopith Lucy) for the African ''erectus'' has been ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_ergaster Homo ergaster]]'', lit. "the working man" -- and still there are those that prefer this name for the african fossils.

'''Giants and Dwarfs'''

* Humans these days are a very varied species, with different peoples having different skin color, eye color, height or weight, oddily in contrast with our extreme genetic uniformity compared with other mammal species. With such external variety, it's not that far a stretch to think that our ancestors had similar varieties. A possible evidence was shown by the very recent (2005) findings of ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganthropus Meganthropus]]'' (lit. "big man") in the island of Java, Indonesia. Initially believed a sub-type of ''Homo erectus'', it is now considered a non-hominin ape, like ''Gigantopithecus''. Known from scant fossils, it was as tall as 7 (2.10 m) to 9 feet (2.70), making it a giant amongst great apes, nearly as big as the gigantopithecus itself: it probably resulted from natural selection by competing with the equally Asian ''Gigantopithecus'' (during the glaciations the Indonesian archipelago and the mainland Asia were united by dryland, just like Great Britain was with the mainland Europe at the same time: the seas that divide these islands and the huge eurasian landmass are both shallow). Another example, this time really human, of gigantism among hominids would be ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_heidelbergensis Homo heidelbergensis]]'' ("man from Heidelberg", a city of Germany), a descendant from ''Homo erectus'' and very likely the common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals. This species in particular showed variations in height, ranging from an average human heights of 6 feet (1.80 m), to being as tall as 8 feet (2.40 m)!. At the opposite end, another guy also found in the 2000s: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensis Homo floresiensis]]'' (lit. "Man of Flores") or "[[PunyEarthlings the Hobbit]]" as called colloquially. This species was most likely another descendant from ''Homo erectus'', and distinguishes itself for its incredibly small size (around 3.2 feet, merely a meter tall). This species was found mainly on an island known as "Las Flores" (lit. The Flowers in Spanish) in southeastern Asia (Indonesia), not far away from Java and very close to the smaller Komodo Island, where the famous "Komodo dragons" live today. ''Homo floresiensis'' is currently believed a result of ''Homo erectus'' that was stranded on the island: how they got there in the first place is still the object of much speculation. It adapted to the fauna of the island, making a case of insular dwarfism (curiously, the opposite happened to the giant monitor lizard, the "Komodo Dragon", which was subject to insular gigantism). The "hobbits" lasted up to the end of the Ice Age itself, nearly 12 thousand years ago.

* Humans these days are a very varied species, with different peoples having different skin color, eye color, height or weight, oddily in contrast with our extreme genetic uniformity compared with other mammal species. With such external variety, it's not that far a stretch to think that our ancestors had similar varieties. A possible evidence was shown by the very recent (2005) findings of ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganthropus Meganthropus]]'' (lit. "big man"). Initially believed a sub-type of ''Homo erectus'', it is now considered a non-hominin ape, like ''Gigantopithecus''. It was as tall as 7 to 9 feet, making it a giant amongst great apes, probably resulting from natural selection by competing with the ''Gigantopithecus'' itself. Another example, this time really human, of gigantism among hominids would be ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_heidelbergensis Homo heidelbergensis]]'' ("man from Heidelberg", a city of Germany), a descendant from ''Homo erectus'' and very likely the common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals. This species in particular showed variations in height, ranging from an average human heights of 6 feet (1.80 m), to being as tall as 8 feet (2.40 m)!. At the opposite end, another guy also found in the 2000s: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensis Homo floresiensis]]'' (lit. "Man of Flores") or "[[PunyEarthlings the Hobbit]]" as called colloquially. This species was most likely another descendant from ''Homo erectus'', and distinguishes itself for its incredibly small size (around 3.2 feet, merely a meter tall). This species was found mainly on an Island known as "Las Flores" in eastern Asia (Indonesia), not far away from Java and very close to the smaller Komodo Island, where the famous "Komodo dragons" live today. ''H. floresiensis'' is currently believed a result of ''Homo erectus'' that was stranded on the island: how they got there in the first place is still the object of much speculation. It adapted to the fauna of the island, making a case of insular dwarfism (curiously, the opposite happened to the giant monitor lizard, the "Komodo Dragon", which was subject to insular gigantism). The "hobbits" lasted up to the end of the Ice Age itself, nearly 12 thousand years ago.

'''Giants and Dwarfs:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganthropus Meganthropus]]'', ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_heidelbergensis Homo heidelbergensis]]'', ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensis Homo floresiensis]]''

* Humans these days are a very varied species, with different peoples having different skin color, eye color, height or weight, oddily in contrast with our extreme genetic uniformity compared with other mammal species. With such external variety, it's not that far a stretch to think that our ancestors had similar varieties. Such evidence is shown by the very recent (2005) findings of ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganthropus Meganthropus]]'' (lit. "big man"), a sub-type of ''Homo erectus'' that apparently was as tall as 7 to 9 feet, making it a giant amongst hominins, probably resulting from natural selection by competing with the ''Gigantopithecus''. Another example of this would be ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_heidelbergensis Homo heidelbergensis]]'' ("man from Heidelberg", a city of Germany), a descendant from ''Homo erectus'' and very likely the common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals. This species in particular showed variations in height, ranging from an average human heights of 6 feet, to being as tall as 7 or 8 feet. Our last example, by far the most peculiar, was also found in the 2000s: ''Homo floresiensis'' (lit. "Man of Flores") or "[[PunyEarthlings the Hobbit]]" as called colloquially. This species was most likely another descendant from ''Homo erectus'', and distinguishes itself for its incredibly small size (barely around a meter tall). This species was found mainly on an Island known as "Las Flores" in eastern Asia (Indonesia), not far away from Java and very close to the smaller Komodo Island, where the famous "Komodo dragons" live today. ''H. floresiensis'' is currently believed a result of ''Homo erectus'' that was stranded on the island (how they got there in the first place is still the object of much speculation) and adapted to the fauna of the island: a case of insular dwarfism. The "hobbits" lasted up to the end of the Ice Age itself, nearly 12 thousand years ago.

'''Between Giants and Dwarves:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganthropus Meganthropus]]'', ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_heidelbergensis Homo heidelbergensis]]'', ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensis Homo floresiensis]]''

* Humans these days are a very varied species, with different peoples having different skin color, eye color, height or weight, oddily in contrast with our extreme genetic uniformity compared with other mammal species. With such external variety, it's not that far a stretch to think that our ancestors had similar varieties. Such evidence is shown by the very recent (2005) findings of ''Meganthropus'' (lit. "big man"), a sub-type of ''Homo erectus'' that apparently was as tall as 7 to 9 feet, making it a giant amongst hominins, probably resulting from natural selection by competing with the ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Gigantopithecus]]''. Another example of this would be ''Homo heidelbergensis'' ("man from Heidelberg", a town of Germany), a descendant from ''Homo erectus'' and very likely the common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals. This species in particular showed variations in height, ranging from an average human heights of 6 feet, to being as tall as 7 or 8 feet. Our last example, by far the most peculiar, was also found in the 2000s: ''Homo floresiensis'' (lit. "Man of Flores") or "[[PunyHumans the Hobbit]]" as called colloquially. This species was most likely another descendant from ''Homo erectus'', and distinguishes itself for its incredibly small size (barely around a meter tall). This species was found mainly on an Island known as "Las Flores" in eastern Asia (Indonesia), not far away from Java. It is currently believed they were a result of ''Homo erectus'' that were stranded on the island (how they got there in the first place is still the object of much speculation) and adapted to the micro fauna of the island, eventually becoming this race of dwarves that lasted up to the end of the Ice Age itself, nearly 12 thousand years ago.

* The beings included in the Australopithecines evolutionary grade are generally ape-like, being to the rest of apes what baboons are to other Old World monkeys: savannah-adapted relatives of a mostly forest-living group. As we get towards modern times, the species of australopithecines (or, more shortly, the australopiths) become steadily more bipedal, adapt their feet to ground locomotion, and generally become more human-like. In the past, all the closest relatives of the genus ''Homo'' were classified in the genus ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australopithecus Australopithecus]]'' (“southern apes”, because they were all found in Africa). As ScienceMarchesOn, recent taxonomical revisions have split off 2 other significant genera from ''Australopithecus'': the earlier ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardipithecus Ardipithecus]]'' ("ground ape", found in 1994 and originally put in one single species, ''A. ramidus''), and the specialized ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranthropus Paranthropus]]'' (“near-human”). The latter included some robust, man-sized species (''P. boisei'', ''P. robustus'') adapted to a strict diet made of bamboos or other fibrous plants like ''Gigantopithecus'', and equally convergently with gorillas (''Gorilla''); the other australopithecines were much smaller and more gracile, and were more generalist feeders. Interestingly, modern gorillas and chimpanzees make a very similar case: the first are big, robust and bamboo-eating like ''Paranthropus'', the latter are small, agile, and all-eating like ''Australopithecus''. Significant species of the modernly-intended genus ''Australopithecus'' are ''A. afarensis'' ("Afar People's southern ape"), best known for the complete specimen found in 1971 and known as [[Music/TheBeatles Lucy]]; and ''A. africanus'' ("African southern ape", the first discovered australopithecine, in 1925), likely an ancestor of the genus ''Homo''. The australopiths of the namesake ''Australopithecus'' genus were portrayed in 2001 as the main characters of the forth episode of Series/WalkingWithBeasts: here a group of them is shown acting rather like a middle-way between chimpanzees and humans.

* It's worth of note that ScienceMarchesOn has been a big affair about ''Homo erectus''. Its first fossil, the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_Man Java Man]]", found in Indonesia in 1893, in the isle of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Java]] indeed, was originally called ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropopithecus Anthropopithecus erectus]]'' ("upright man-ape") and immediately after renamed ''Pithecanthropus erectus'' (literally meaning "upright ape-man"). Another found later near Beijing, China (in the Zhokouthien site to be precise) was labeled ''Sinanthropus pekinensis'' ("[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Beijing]]'s chinese man") and nicknamed the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_Man Peking Man]]". Both names are very common in old textbooks, but now are universally regarded as specimens of ''Homo erectus''. Another alternative name (invented in the seventies, the same decade of the description of the australopith Lucy) for the African ''erectus'' has been ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_ergaster Homo ergaster]]'', lit. "the working man" -- and still there are those that prefer this name for the african fossils.

* The beings included in the Australopithecines evolutionary grade are generally ape-like, being to the rest of apes what baboons are to other Old World monkeys: savannah-adapted relatives of a mostly forest-living group. As we get towards modern times, the species of australopithecines (or, more shortly, the australopiths) become steadily more bipedal, adapt their feet to ground locomotion, and generally become more human-like. In the past, all the closest relatives of the genus ''Homo'' were classified in the genus ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australopithecus Australopithecus]]'' (“southern apes”, because they were all found in Africa). As ScienceMarchesOn, recent taxonomical revisions have split off 2 other significant genera from ''Australopithecus'': the earlier ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardipithecus Ardipithecus]]'' ("ground ape", found in 1994 and originally put in one single species, ''A. ramidus''), and the specialized ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranthropus Paranthropus]]'' (“near-human”). The latter included some robust, man-sized species (''P. boisei'', ''P. robustus'') adapted to a strict diet made of bamboos or other fibrous plants like ''Gigantopithecus'', and equally convergently with gorillas (''Gorilla''); the other australopithecines were much smaller and more gracile, and were more generalist feeders. Interestingly, modern gorillas and chimpanzees make a very similar case: the first are big, robust and bamboo-eating like ''Paranthropus'', the latter are small, agile, and all-eating like ''Australopithecus''. Significant species of the modernly-intended genus ''Australopithecus'' are ''A. afarensis'' ("Afar People's southern ape"), best known for the specimen found in 1971 and known as [[Music/TheBeatles Lucy]]; and ''A. africanus'' ("African southern ape", the first discovered australopithecine, in 1925), likely an ancestor of the genus ''Homo''. The australopiths of the namesake ''Australopithecus'' genus were portrayed in 2001 as the main characters of the forth episode of Series/WalkingWithBeasts: here a group of them is shown acting rather like a middle-way between chimpanzees and humans.

'''Handy Hominins:''' Early ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo Homo]]''.

* The beginning of the ''Homo'' genus is still a mystery to paleontologists and paleoanthropologists everywhere; as is known, fossil remains of hominids have traditionally been much, much scantier compared to other big-sized fossil mammals. Earliest fossil evidence for their origin hints at a date of 2.5 million years ago. The first ''Homo''s were actually very much similar to australopithecines (which has indeed lead some scientists to believe these should be classified as a separate genus), with the bigger differences being, at first glance, superficial. However, the elements that would make us humans are already well in the making. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_habilis Homo habilis]]'', the most classical early ''Homo'' (described in year 1964), shows it best: while sharing many anatomical traits with australopithecines (small overall size, ape-like skull but with human-like dentition etc.), it's skull was already beginning to show some human-like feature, in particular a slightly larger brain (620 cc in comparison to the 450 cc of earlier australopitheces). It had also more specialized hands ("''Homo habilis''" literally translates into "handy man" in Latin), and this species was enables to achieve the first of many breakthroughs that would define humanity: fabrication of stone tools. Chimpanzees can use stones to break nuts or for other purposes like self-defense, but cannot modify them into tools. These stones made by the ''H. habilis'' were still very crude, though, being mostly just broken rocks with a sharp edge. However, this also marked the beginning of a new behavioral pattern present in latter ''Homo'' species: the habit of eating predominantly meat. For comparison, australopithecines, even of the omnivorous ''Australopithecus'' genus, mainly ate fruits, seeds, and roots, and only occasionally took animal food (insects and carrion of large mammals). Chimpanzees and bonobos have a similar alimentation, but true chimps (''Pan troglodytes'') also hunt actively small mammals occasionally.

* It's worth of note that ScienceMarchesOn has been a big affair about ''Homo erectus''. Its first fossil, the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_Man Man of Java]]", found in Indonesia in 1893, in the isle of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Java]] indeed, was originally called ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropopithecus Anthropopithecus erectus]]'' ("upright man-ape") and immediately after renamed ''Pithecanthropus erectus'' (literally meaning "upright ape-man"). Another found later near Beijing, China (in the Zhokouthien site to be precise) was labeled ''Sinanthropus pekinensis'' ("[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Beijing]]'s chinese man") and nicknamed the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_Man Man of Peking]]". Both names are very common in old textbooks, but now are universally regarded as specimens of ''Homo erectus''. Another alternative name (invented in the seventies, the same decade of the description of Lucy) for the African ''erectus'' has been ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_ergaster Homo ergaster]]'', lit. "the working man" -- and still there are those that prefer this name for the african fossils.